


The Assignment

by Elizabeth1985



Category: Supernatural
Genre: AU, Cute, First Kiss, Fluff, Jimmy is a wizard, M/M, fic prompt, in the future, rarepair, spell brings Cas to his realm, spells, way longer than I expected this to be
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-05-26
Packaged: 2018-07-10 08:41:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,921
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6976006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elizabeth1985/pseuds/Elizabeth1985
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jimmy Novak is a mediocre wizarding student at AA's and when faced with a difficult assignment, he decides to harness the power of his past lives for assistance. He certainly didn't expect an Angel to suddenly appear in his room, an Angel that looked exactly like him!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "princessjimmynovak: You'll do rare pairs? Oh thank god I'm dying. Could you do cas/jimmy, college!au, first kiss, fluff but also maybe angst (and if you wanted to make it a modern fantasy type thing where they were witches that would be cool too but not necessary)"
> 
> I really hope this is what you were looking for! It ended up being way longer than I thought so I broke it up into chapters :) Enjoy. XD
> 
> Thanks to [Tennyo](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Tennyo/pseuds/Tennyo) for being an awesome beta.

Thirty-seven hours and twenty-four minutes was the exact time Jimmy had left to complete his second term assignment. To be fair, the teacher had told the entire class about it on the first day. But Jimmy worked better under pressure, or maybe he was just a slacker and didn’t care to admit it.

Either way, he had barely two days to get his shit together. Which wasn’t a whole lot of time to formulate a potion (from _SCRATCH_ , might he add) capable of creating a teeny tiny galaxy the size of a marble. Why his Prof had given him that particular choice was anyone’s guess.

Jimmy Novak was a third year student at Aclos’ Academy, a prestigious private secondary school for up and coming young witches and wizards. Not only was it damn expensive, but you had to be invited! It piled on the pressure—some days more than he could handle. And it didn’t help that his parents were the snootiest richest assholes in Manhattan. If Jimmy Novak failed, everyone would hear about it. His parents would be shamed. He’d probably wind up homeless.

Wracking his brain, and scraping his blunt nails across his scalp in the process, he stared at the over lit laptop screen begging the details of the potion to magically reveal themselves. Unfortunately, actual magic wasn’t that easy.

It required intense concentration, intricate knowledge of nearly every substance in existence, and an innate talent that lacked consistency in his opinion.

Jimmy again ran his fingers through his hair, leaving the soft brown locks darting out in every which way. He squinted at the computer harder. Nothing came.

The problem was, everyone in the class had been tasked to formulate a new and original potion. It required you to harness your knowledge of magical chemistry and be aware of how certain properties interacted. One wrong mix, one wrong word… and _kaboom_ ; dorm room sucked into a time void. Jimmy Novak never to be seen again. It was probably why the school had parents sign a waiver in the case that anything ever went wrong (e.g. death, transfiguration, dismemberment, among other horrific possibilities).

Such is the magical life. There were days, whole weeks in fact where he dreamed of being a regular. A non-magical guy living a hunky-dory life.

Pushing his laptop back further on the desk, he dragged his textbook closer and skimmed through the chapters to the section on physics and galactic properties. Surely, there had to be clues in the one inch thick section.

Two hours later (thirty-five hours remaining on the educational ticking clock), Jimmy squinted at the text below his face, a spark of hope flickering in the recess of his conscious mind.

_”Wisdom of the Past”_

The abridged overview spoke of a spell; an old incantation designed to draw on the accumulated knowledge from the speaker’s past lives. The once theorized concept of reincarnation had been proven by Harker Boomsen in 2112, nearly a hundred years ago.

In the eyes of the school, it probably counted as cheating. But _technically,_ he was only obtaining help from himself, so _really…_ did it actually count? Jimmy decided it couldn’t hurt to “help himself”.

Besides, the spell seemed easy enough and one he’d never done before. He always enjoyed trying something new, regular spellwork could be somewhat dull. Unfortunately, there was no way of knowing what extent of knowledge he’d receive. For all he knew, earlier versions of Jimmy Novak might have been just as mediocre as himself.

Good enough to get in to AA’s, but not so amazing he excelled. It would figure.

Quickly, he moved about his room lighting candles with the flick of his fingers and a single direct thought. He arranged the Altar in a symbol of respect to the spirit world and made sure to include a personal object of significance—for which he chose a bracelet made for him by his best friend Charlie, a beautiful red-headed witch he’d known since birth.  She was his dearest friend and closest companion.

Once everything was set, he opened the book and went over the words in his head a dozen times before he was sure he knew every syllable. You don’t mince diction and enunciation when dealing with this sort of thing.

Jimmy spoke the words clearly, “Carmina autem meus animus ex praeteritorum, in sapientia, in requiem mihi. Et nunc, et semper, et in quantum respicit.”

Around him, the air tickled… carrying power in its particles as it wooshed  across over his skin. His small dorm room (single bed on the right, desk on the left, totally littered with books) began to darken save for a single light source emanating from a nexus formed by the two arcs of magic streaming from the tips of his fingers. He felt the expanding pressure, the displacement of air before him.

With a crack of lightning and thunder, raising the fine hair on his arms, a solid shape appeared. Its presence extinguished every struggling candle, closing out all light sources , leaving the room in stark blackness. The air went stagnant with the void of magic; an eerie moment of suspension.

Standing stock still, Jimmy lowly registered the lingering hum of power at the end of his fingers and the centre of his chest. It reminded him of the time he downed an energy drink in three seconds flat.

Not sure what to expect, he flicked his fingers for light—

“ _Holy shit!”_ he screeched, leaping back two feet and tripping onto his bed, his eyes bugged out in shock. The springs bounced him in place until he settled, jaw dropped in stunned silence.

There was too much to take in, and what he did twirled around his mind as sentence fragments: _Looks like me... Half-naked.... Wings?!_

The _identical_ being before him opened his _identical_ mouth: “I imagine that is a form of expletive, as I see no blessed excrement in the vicinity. For which I am immeasurably thankful.”

Gaping, Jimmy stared wide-eyed at the half-naked man standing in the centre of his room (one that happened to share his features). Although, not exactly a man—not if the freaking giant black and navy wings were anything to go by. “Uh, um, are you—wha-what are you—I’m—”  _Holymotherfuckincrap_. “I’m confused. Really, really confused,” he rambled.

Hello understatement of the millennium!

The winged doppelganger tilted its head, blue eyes narrowing into slits. “Why would you be confused? You are the one who requested me.”

Ok, _so_ , apparently drawing on wisdom of the past didn’t just drop niblets of intelligence into one’s brain, but _literally_ dragged a long dead past life right into his damn room! How was he supposed to get his assignment done now!? And how the heck did he get rid of this guy, or whatever he was.

Floundering, Jimmy blabbed an explanation, “I was only trying to harness knowledge from my former lives. I didn’t expect… you, whatever you are.” He paused, nose scrunched. “ _What are you?_ ”

_Please don’t be evil. Please don’t be evil._ Although, it’d be kind of wicked to have a legit evil twin.

Wearing dark cotton pants and still no shirt, the being drew in its wings in a strange gesture of letting down his guard and said, “I am an Angel. And you, James Novak, are a reincarnation of my human soul.”


	2. Chapter 2

“Come again?”

The angel squinted, perplexed. “You wish for  me to retreat... and return? For what purpose?”

“No, no, no,” Jimmy rushed out. “ _Dammit_. I mean, how the hell am I an Angel in a past life? Are you even dead?” This was exactly why Professor Kinburn told them never to try new spells alone.

Man, this was one for the Dumb Wizard Trophy Room. Oh yes, there was indeed a room busting at the seams with tales and depictions and off-products of unwise actions of past students of AA’s. In fact, there happened to be a moving water colour statue in likeness of Ms. Retalia Amsen (a female student from three decades ago). Eeh, not so much a likeness of, as in it _is_ Retalia Amsen, or what’s left of her after whatever it was she’d done. Every professor since has attempted to turn her back. They’ve all failed.

“No, young one,” his doppelganger corrected, “I am not dead. Perhaps it’s better to see it as my never having been alive in the sense that you are alive. My name is Castiel, and when I was created by one of the many Deities, a companion soul was brought forth into your world; _a human_. You might best understand it as a magical byproduct. The making of an Angel, with powers such as mine is an intricate and extreme process; it’s not without side effects. Like all human souls not tainted by certain magics, death births new life and as such… here you are.”

Stunned and befuddled, Jimmy could only mutter, “Uh, yeah… here I am, I guess.” Which is to say: Royally fucked.

“Yes. And I believe you require my services. Do you not?”

Opening his mouth to reply, Jimmy was startled by a bracing knock on his door, the three solid raps sounding as if they were exploding into the tense atmosphere of his dinky dorm room. The candlelight flickered in reaction to his dissonant emotions. Across from him, Castiel’s formerly resting wings perked up, blue eyes shifting towards the origin of the noise..

“Can you, um, hide?” he asked.

Castiel, the Angel ( _apparently_ ), stood ruler-straight and with a loud explosive whoosh, vanished. Jimmy wondered if he was gone for good. Somehow, he doubted that.

Two more loud knocks drew his attention.

“What!?” yelled Jimmy, eyeing the door with suspicion. The worst thing would be to get caught messing around with stuff he shouldn’t’ be messing around with. Flicking his fingers just as the door burst open, he closed every open book on his desk.

“Damn, Novak, what are you doing here?!” accused Charlie, her arms crossed over her chest. At his immediate lack of reply, she went on, “Lights flickered in the hallway, dude! Are you hoping you can brew a storm and destroy school to get out of your assignment.”

An awkward laugh breathed past his lips. “Um. That would have been a better alternative.”

He obviously seemed guilty in one way or another, as Charlie pegged him with a stern look and said,  “James Raven Novak, what the hell did you do?!”

Eyes flaring wide in false innocence, he squeaked out, “Nothing!”

“Liar.”

“I swear. Everything is totally fine. Perfect, in fact. Assignment’s nearly done. Practically handed in.”

“Uh-huh.” Charlie slammed the door and stepped into the room. She uncrossed her arms and hung them by her sides, her bold eyes pinned on him. With a twist of her wrist and three short words, she placed on truth spell on him. Whenever he opened his mouth, the whole debacle would spill free like a loose tap.

Grunting in frustration, he unleashed his predicament. “I found a spell, okay.”

“Here we go.”

“It seemed innocuous. A way to gain knowledge from past reincarnations. Super easy.”

“Cause magic’s always simple and clear cut. Get your head out of your butt, Novak!”

“Charlie! I’ve got a real problem here!” he rushed out, his words high-pitched and shaky. Man he could not afford to be kicked out of school.

“Alright, Jimmy-Bean,” she said emphatically, sitting on his unmade bed. “Explain.”

“Um, I sort of… um… displaced a former version of… _myself_ … to this time and location—”

“—That doesn’t seem—”

“—and he’s kind of an Angel.”

“Fucking what now?” Charlie narrowed her eyes and added, “He’s an angel? Meaning an actual angel or like he’s super pretty and you wanna bang him. Which, FYI, if he’s a copy of you that’s totes self-centered and freakishly hot.”

Jimmy deadpanned his friend for the tail end of her question and said, “ _Actual_ Angel. Wings and everything.”

“Damn.”

“More like fuck, but sure. That too.” Taking a needed deep breath, Jimmy scanned the remaining empty space of his room and wondered if he was off the hook. Maybe his twin-with-wings was adios. “But hey, he left so maybe he’s not coming back. And sure, I’m going to fail my assignment, but that’s better than ending up on the Idiots Hall of Fame.”

Charlie laughed. “Hall of Shame, you mean.”

Nodding half-heartedly, he thought of no other way to test the waters than to speak aloud. “Castiel. Uh, you still here?”

For a fraction of a second, he really thought nothing would happen. But then it did. A slap of air hit him square in the face and then there Angel-Jimmy was. In all his half-nakedness.

Charlie whistled. “Wow. You don’t look half bad when you’re less disheveled, and shirtless… and toned.”

“That’s so disturbing,” mumbled Jimmy. He and Charlie were practically brother and sister. Not to mention the fact that men were really not her thing.

Castiel looked pointedly at Charlie and then back at Jimmy. “I believe you require my assistance, as I’ve said,” he stated with brimming impatience. “Perhaps that is the next appropriate course of action. I’m not permitted to leave this realm until I’ve completed my end of the requirement for this spell. It binds me to this time and location.”

“Fine. Okay, so that’s easy right?” Jimmy glanced expectantly at his friend. “We plough through this assignment and everything will go back to normal.”

“Let’s hope Feathers isn’t a dummy.”

Castiel’s attention snapped to the redhead. “I assure you I’m _vastly_ more intelligent than either of you.”

Rolling her eyes, she stood up to the angel. “Not in everything. I guaran-motherfuckin-tee it.”

“Yes. _Everything_ ,” maintained Castiel, his voice hard.

“Who’s the most famous wizard in all of history?” she asked. Jimmy couldn’t hold back the grin plastered to his face. He knew where she was going with this.

“Cobalt Patton.” Castiel’s reply was teeming with snooty arrogance. A strangely amusing look on the Angel. Jimmy wondered if he’d ever made the same face.

“Wrong!” she blasted. “Harry _fucking_ Potter.”

Pondering only a moment, Castiel glanced at her smartly. “Fictional characters are of no relevance in this conversation.”

“How dare you?” she seethed. Insult Charlie’s fictional loves and you’ve basically declared war. It was time to break things up before she started throwing latin at the guy.

“Okay, okay!” Jimmy threw his hands out. “Charlie, you should go. I appreciate you’re here to help, or criticize—I’m honestly not sure which. But I can handle this. It’s no big deal. We’ll get my assignment done, he’ll go back to wherever and everything will go back to normal.”

She snorted in reply and breezed out of the room. The last thing they heard as she slammed the door was, “Harry Potter rules, bitches!”

Alone in the room, Jimmy brushed his fingers through his hair and sighed. “Okay here’s the deal—I need to do this dumb assignment. And I did this spell hoping it would help. So, can you help?”

Castiel tipped his head and pondered the inquiry. “Indeed. What exactly is this ‘assignment’ you must complete?”

Exhaling in relief, Jimmy took a wide step to his desk and pulled out the chair. He plunked onto the hard groove of the wood seat and began digging through the pile of books and papers that littered the whole surface of his desk.

Castiel, meanwhile, sat on the bed. His large, frankly stunning, wings splayed out over the beige comforter. It pinwheeled Jimmy’s focus, all his attention suddenly warped to follow the light sheen on each feather as the overhead light reflected across the delicate surfaces.

“The assignment,” prompted Castiel, as he caught Jimmy’s stare.

Coughing out of his trance, Jimmy spun on his chair and plastered his sights to the black words on his assignment sheet. He read it aloud, “Each student must formulate an original spell. You are to include an accurate list of ingredients, quantities, and conjuring order, as well as the applicable incantation. This assignment is worth 20% of your grade, which includes 5% for your presentation to the class. The balance of your existing grade will be docked should your assignment cause any ill effects to you, your classmates, or myself.” Jimmy paused and then continued to read the specific notes for him, “My _original_ spell is to create a miniature galaxy, no bigger than a marble.”

In the hush that trailed his voice, Jimmy kept his eyes on the paper and waited for his angel lookalike to say something. When nothing broke the laden silence, he swiveled the chair and stared.

The image struck him. Their appearances were, in most ways, identical. The same blue eyes, the same shape of his nose, and wide, full lips. Broad cheeks that turned beet red in harsh winter winds. Charlie had been right though—Castiel’s body was more mature, defined and perfected. His features, despite their likeness, were a degree older.

There was something intriguing about all of it. It wasn’t often that Jimmy found himself fascinated by much of anything.

“The floor is open for suggestions,” he said. Castiel glanced at the hardwood expectantly. Jimmy rolled his eyes. “Gods in Heaven, you’re literal.” With a shake of his head, he scooted the chair over and met those matching blue eyes. “What I mean is, I’ve told you my assignment, so how can you help me? I need a list of ingredients and I need to figure out how to use those ingredients. On top of which, I need to create the spell itself. Oh and you know, not kill anyone in the process.”

Surprising him, Castiel smiled. “I can help.”

Tipping his head back, Jimmy sighed in a soft sort of cheer. “Great! Let’s get started. What’s first?”

With a simple look, Castiel admonished him. “I believe I said I can _help_ ; I am in no way going to do this assignment for you. That would be cheating, would it not?”

Smartass. “Fine. Okay, okay… Um. A contained, tiny galaxy would need… _mercury_?” Semi-shot in the dark on that one.

Castiel’s mouth curved up in one corner. “Perhaps in a very small quantity, yes, that could be useful.”

Taking a quick second to jot it down, Jimmy returned with his pencil and paper. “What about rosewood—for living components?”

“Rosewood is used to enliven passion, not create life where it doesn’t exist.”

“Right…” Jimmy agreed, irritated by his own stupidity.

The angel’s expression softened, “I would suggest incorporating some of the most basic physical elements needed, and turn to magical ingredients thereafter.”

Jimmy nodded, “Gotchya.”


	3. Chapter 3

Two hours later, Jimmy had four ingredients scribbled on his list with half-formed theories of appropriate quantities of each. They were nowhere near done yet, but he was hungry.

“… Dragon Tree Needles might benefit the stability of the spell but they’re quite hard to come by,” Castiel was saying. Jimmy was only half paying attention, his thoughts distracted by the various categories of food he’d rather be consuming.

“Sure. I’ll make a note but Castiel, I’m starving. Can we take a break and get some calories?”

The angel nodded. “Of course. What are you in the mood for?”

He shrugged. “Whatever’s close.”

“Everything is close. I have wings.”

A tight nervous laugh bubbled up his windpipe. “Um, yeah. I’m not flying anywhere. Broom flying is not actually a thing, you know. And to be honest, me and heights don’t get along”

“You are a decedent of my descendants, do you believe I’d drop you?”

Jimmy detested rational logic. “Of course not.” Though that wasn’t the point.

“Then tell me what you’d like to eat,” insisted Castiel. It seemed, the more he learned about his doppelganger the more he realized stubbornness was hereditary.

“Fine. I want… pancakes,” he said petulantly. “With fresh maple syrup.” Before he took his next breath, Castiel had shifted in space, securing stiff, muscled arms tightly around Jimmy’s slimmer torso.

And then everything popped around him. His eardrums zinged and his heart thumped out of beat. But the worst was his stomach—which if it’d had anything in it, would’ve ended up in Castiel’s face.

In a blink, his feet were on hard ground and the air was crisp and fresh. His stomach and heart settled.

“Never again,” he pleaded. “Never _ever_ again.”

Hot, large palms cradled his face and two blue eyes dominated his vision from two inches away. Talk about being clinically analyzed or what.

After careful assessment, Castiel stated, “You are fine.”

Jimmy swallowed, annoyed by his captivation with this man-angel-twin, and stepped backwards. For the first time, he took in their surroundings. By all appearances they were in the deep bush—maple trees in a never-ending maze and a thin blanket of snow covering the ground. Thank god he was wearing his moccasin slippers with the thick leather bottoms.

“Where are we?”

“Northern Quebec.”

Right. “C’est la vie, huh?”

“There’s a pancake house over in this direction…” Castiel trailed off, moving across the snow covered forest floor with sinuous steps. Not once faltering over roots or boulders unseen. His wings, draped in a casual way, fluttered as he moved. Without a shirt, the picture was all the more distracting.

The navy blue swath of pigment near the tips of those astonishing wings seemed fluid. As if the colour was not so much a static thing but a magical expression of… whatever Castiel was feeling.

As Jimmy watched, stumbling over the uneven ground, he noticed the band of deep blue stretch up to the broad section of each wing, shifting towards the peak.

Before he could think it over, the words were coming out, “Why do they change?”

Castiel did not stop, or pause. “For a number of reasons. My mood, the temperature, presence of danger, whether or not I am injured.”

Hmm. That was neat, he supposed. “If they’re more blue, what does that mean?”

Faintly, in a blink-and-you-missed-it kind of way, Castiel took one step out of pace with the rest and in a lighter voice answered, “I’m thinking deeply.”

“Huh.” Jimmy was tempted to ask what had captured the angels thoughts so prominently, but didn’t want to seem like a pestering child constantly asking _Why this_ and _Why that._

In the last couple minutes of their short journey, Jimmy thought about his life. It was difficult not to wonder about other past lives of his. Would he have been intrigued by all of them? Or was Castiel different due to his otherworldly nature? Did Jimmy’s parents have angelic lineage as well? How rare was it? Jimmy hadn’t explored lineage in magics before.

To be honest, there wasn’t a whole lot about magic itself that got the wheels going in his head. It all seemed like a fad decades past the cool stage. Sure, spells and all that were useful on occasion. But in his experience, they never helped you get anywhere in life.

Jimmy Novak: Case in point.

He had all the wizarding checkpoints of natural talent and a desirable surname. But his parent’s money was just that—his parent’s. And no amount of flicking his fingers or speaking a spell had ever landed him a date. Which was why, at twenty-one, he was still a virgin.

Despite his view on the whole thing, the notion of _not_ taking this path, of _not_ attending AA’s was the equivalent of being told you were Superman and willingly taking a shot of kryptonite. You just don’t do it.

“What plagues you?”

Castiel’s slightly deeper voice interrupted his musings and he raised his chin and took in both the Angel and the shack beyond the expansive wings. It appeared to be empty from the outside, but he sensed the hustle beyond the aged barnwood, the clatter of dishes and flatware.

“Nothing. It’s not important.”

Satisfied, Castiel turned and continued onto the shoveled stone walkway and disappeared into the cabin. Jimmy followed a few seconds later, curious as to how the locals would react to a half-naked angel stepping into their backwoods restaurant shack.

…

The pancakes had been nothing short of phenomenal. And he’d eaten more than his share. Actually, Jimmy had probably eaten a week's worth of calories in fluffy stacked pancakes swimming in amber syrup.

“Best. Dinner. Ever,” he praised.

Outside, Jimmy lounged on one of the cold wood benches, wishing it were less damp, and palmed across his full belly. In any other circumstance, he’d take a nap surrounded by the warm light of candles.

Castiel sat stiffly beside him. “When is your assignment due?”

A groan permeated the frosty air around them. “Fuck. Friday just before noon.”

“We should return, complete your school work so I may go.”

Curious about the less amicable tone of Castiel’s voice, Jimmy faced his companion. “Getting annoyed of me already?”

Castiel pointedly faced away. “No. In fact the opposite is true.”

“What does that mean?” he wondered, innocently naïve.

“It has been millions of years since I was last on earth. I’ve never spent considerable time with humans. Certainly none that I feel a suppressed connection to. Your soul is _perplexing_ in its allure. Why I’m drawn to it, I cannot say.”

Huh. “Um. That’s—” ... _weird._ Taking closer stock of Castiel’s distant expression, Jimmy made the mistake of leaning in.

The innate talent he possessed as a wizard instantly recognized, however faintly, the same sensation Castiel must be feeling in excess. There was a tangible presence to it, something he had to fight off. Otherwise, he might snuggle up next to this shirtless version of himself and have to seriously reconsider his sanity, not to mention his apparent perversions.

“There is a phrase I’ve heard in passing,” began Castiel, his wings curling forward, almost ruefully. “Curiosity killed the cat,” the angel quoted.

“An old proverb.” Jimmy’s eyes narrowed, his brain cataloguing the bizarre nature of this moment.

“Hmm,” came Castiel’s limited response.

A strained few minutes later, and with a very uncomfortable pop, they were standing in the middle of his dorm room with chilled skin and unfocused minds.

Whatever strange magnetic draw existed between himself and this angel was like nothing he’d ever read about, certainly never experienced.

Pushing aside the tension, ignoring it the way any young man is good at ignoring unwarranted reactions, Jimmy directed all of his brain’s energy to working on his assignment.

Castiel and himself fell into an easy routine of discourse—debating and reviewing the merits of each ingredient, the tipping points of quantities between benefit or calamity, and periodically turning over potential phrases for the incantation. It was obvious Castiel knew more than enough to solve the problem outright, but he maintained the position of a helpful resource and nothing more.

The night wore on, and the sun set beyond his window. The background noise of the dorm grew dimmer as each student on the floor lowered their music, went out on dates, or went to bed. Absently, he flicked to life a few candles and cut off the fabricated light overhead. He’d never been a fan of certain modern inventions. Computer technology and the internet—Hell yes. Electrical light—Hell no. It was always the wrong colour, the wrong vibrancy.

Don’t even get him started on fluorescents. Headache-inducing bulbs of hell.

Listening to Castiel blabber about mixing techniques and order, he couldn’t stifle a rising yawn. Castiel’s words cut off abruptly.

“You are tired,” the angel noted.

“Um, yeah…” he said in a breath. “I think my brain’s about run out of fuel for the day. Can we pick this up tomorrow?”

“As you wish.” Castiel looked forward for a fleeting second in concentration and in the blink of an eye, every book and paper scattered about was ordered and piled neatly on his desk. It was the cleanest his dorm room had ever looked.

It also brought to light the predicament of sleeping arrangements. Would Castiel stay in his room as he slept? Do angels require rest? In the sugar shack, shrouded in magic to conceal his true form, Castiel had eaten the pancakes, but with an air of interest and experimentation.

“And what are you gonna do?” Jimmy asked.

Quizzically tipping his head to one side, Castiel stared at the far wall. “I haven’t decided. Though I needn’t rest at this time, I’m having some difficulty deciding whether I should experience this era or watch over you.”

Jimmy laughed. “I’ll be sleeping. No need to watch over me; this dorm is warded to the nines.”

Standing off the bed, Castiel took a step closer to the window over the desk and stared out into the street. Despite the late hour, the streets were bustling. It was Manhattan after all. And the population on this blip of land had reached staggering and nearly unsustainable levels.

Not sure what else to do, Jimmy unzipped his hoodie and threw it towards his closet. He kicked off his sturdy slippers and shucked his jeans. Wearing boxers and a thin t-shirt, he wormed his way under the covers, studiously not staring at the bare torso and vast feather-show dominating his window. The dull moonlight framed the lines of muscle and bone.

In that moment, looking but not looking, Jimmy could hardly believe they were derived from something of the same.  

As he focused on the pattern of his own breaths, feeling his chest expand and relax, his senses refused to shut down. Even with his eyes shut, Jimmy could tell Castiel hadn’t left. There was a distinct smell in the air, the crisp notes of a spring breeze and muted earthy musks. The combination was intoxicating. Focusing on the sounds, he weeded out the murmur rising from the street, the occasional thuds of feet from the hall, and narrowed his focus to the faint rustle of movement.

The urge to peek at the angel was a nagging desire. To stifle it, he twisted under the covers and faced the wall, bunching his legs up towards his chest. With a loud huff, he forced his body to relax and started to use an old meditation method to put himself to sleep. It involved attuning all his energy to individual body parts in succession, beginning from the tips of one’s toes, to the very top of the head.

By the time he reached his hips, he was moving again, restless.

“Do you often have such difficulties with sleep?”

“No,” he grumbled back.

“Would you care for some assistance?” the angel asked.

What in the world would _that_ involve? Jimmy wondered. Taking a moment to consider the possibilities, he thought of Castiel zonking him out with a simple touch, but he also imagined being lulled to sleep by the stroke of delicate wings down his back.

Tentatively, with a small voice, he replied, “Um. Sure.”

Eyes still closed, Jimmy followed the faint sounds of movement. He registered the steep dip in the mattress as the angel sat down. It was quite suddenly very hot under the covers.

When nothing happened, and he remained awake, Jimmy shifted onto his back and opened his eyes.

Castiel was staring quizzically down at him, his clear blue eyes reflecting the minimal light from the window. “What is this world like to you?”

The question stumped him for a few seconds, not expecting such a weighted inquisition after midnight. “Why? Planning to stick around?”

Dimly, the angel smiled. “I forgot how vibrant it was. Nature, humans, the chaos of it all.”

“Yeah, it’s wild. Sometimes too much, I think. There are days when I feel like I’ll never get a break,” he admitted. “What’s it like wherever you’re from?”

Castiel tipped his head back, eyes looking beyond the ceiling to something unfathomable to Jimmy. “I’m from a realm that is very orderly, bathed in constant light. There is no concept of time. There, me and my kind are always working to correct problems that arise from this realm and others, we organize fates, and on occasion adjust past events as necessary.”

“Huh. So basically we’re the putty and you’re the hands,” Jimmy summarized.

“In the simplest of understandings, yes.”

“All that power and time, and you’re saying you like it here?”

Castiel’s wings perked and sank. “Yes.”

“I mean, I guess I get it. Helping me with this dumb assignment is probably kind of relaxing for you, huh?”

Smiling, Castiel replied, “Yes, very much so. I find your personality... amusing. We may share appearances, but to my highly attuned senses we are vastly different beings.”

He had to laugh, “Yeah ‘cause you’re proper and sexy and I’m disorganized and… frumpy.” Shit—did he just say sexy? Christ he could be an idiot sometimes.

The angel’s eyes narrowed at him, a curious smile pulled at the corners of Castiel’s broad mouth. “Sexy?” he repeated. It might have been dark, and his vision tricking him, but Jimmy was certain he caught a flash of deep purple run down the tips of Castiel’s feathers.

Embarrassed, Jimmy pulled his lips into his mouth and bit on them. He felt heat flush his cheeks. “Um, feel free to ignore that. And I should probably sleep now. You, uh, said you’d help me out.”

It was only as Castiel straightened his posture that Jimmy noticed how close they’d shifted towards each other throughout the conversation. “Of course. My apologies, I have difficulty remembering the fragility of your species.”

Firming his features into concentration, Castiel leaned over him and placed both hands on either side of Jimmy’s face.

“What are you gonna do exactly?” he asked, nervous.  Same as in the woods, he felt a thread of energy ripple between them. Whether it was the nature of their inherent connection, or something else, he wasn’t sure.

“Raise the melatonin in your system—nothing drastic, I promise,” Castiel assured.

The angel’s familiar blue eyes relaxed on his, seeing without focus. Jimmy’s cheeks grew hot as whatever magic Castiel possessed worked on him. The effect was immediate, every muscle feeling slack and powerless, thoughts becoming dull, and all his worry over the Angel’s proximity transformed into a loose temptation.

Even sluggish as he was, when he registered the disappearance of Castiel’s steady palms from his face, he reached out, a low sound rising from his throat. His protest was mollified when a silky touch draped over his torso, and he knew without full awareness, that Castiel’s wing was resting over him like a blanket.


	4. Chapter 4

Saying he felt groggy would’ve been a tremendous understatement. Jimmy struggled to kick his brain into gear, to command his eyelids to rise. The sink of the mattress enveloped him, the blankets weighing on him.

“ _Hmmng,”_ he groaned, cracking one eye open and being struck by the morning light.

“You have lines on your face,” a deep voice noted from his right. And with it, the events of the day before bubbled back into his mind.

Jimmy forced his eyes to open and realized he was laying awkwardly on his back, one arm over his head, his legs spread, and one of his pillows half-covering his face. “Dent lines or wrinkles?” he asked, smiling at the goddamn angel sitting in the exact spot he was last night.

“Dent lines. You move quite a lot for a sleeping person,” Castiel mentioned.

“And you don’t move nearly enough for an awake person. Did you seriously sit there all night and just… watch me?”

“I could have. A single night for me is comparable to a blink of an eye for you. My attention was drawn to many things: my own internal thoughts, the personal items you keep, conversations beyond these walls—I was not bored, rest assured.”

To Jimmy, it was all just bizarre. Speaking of, his mind played back his last memory before drifting off. Castiel’s face hovering above him, warm hands covering his cheeks. Something along the lines of interest crept through him and Jimmy faced the reality that he clearly had a thing for his winged doppelganger.

When all this was over, he should probably seek help for that. No one in their right mind should be attracted to a replica of themselves. Even if said replica had a strong, smooth body, beautiful wings, and the most peculiar personality. Jimmy remembered the expressions Castiel made during Charlie’s impromptu visit and chuckled.

“Amusing thoughts?” Castiel wondered.

Jimmy snorted. “Sort of.” Wiping the sleep from his eyes and sitting up, propping the weight of his upper body on his hands, he glanced around his tidy dorm room and reluctantly said, “Breakfast and then back to work?”

His temporary roommate nodded.

***

It was late Thursday evening, the time wearing down, but Jimmy was almost done his assignment. It was staggering how well he worked with Castiel. Whatever it was about the angel brought out his drive to do better and work harder.

Granted, it was very likely his sudden willfulness to pour all his focus and skill into this project was a means of distracting himself from other concerns. Very inappropriate concerns at that.

Somewhere throughout the day, Jimmy decided to drop the latter part of his twin’s name and consistently referred to the angel as ‘Cas’ now. Easier and way cooler than _Castiel_ which kind of sounded like a kid who would’ve gotten seriously beat up in grade school.

They were both seated on his bed, their backs to the wall, books and notes surrounding them on the comforter when Charlie burst into the room.

Her initial smile faded when she noticed Cas was still there. “Oh. You—the Harry Potter hating winged replica of my bestie—you're still here?”

Jimmy beat Castiel to a response, “Yes,” he said rudely. “Cas is still here. And we’re almost done, so what’s up?”

“Well,” she stretched the word, “I wanted to know if you wanted to help me out with a little female problem?”

Oh god. Jimmy snorted and rolled his eyes simultaneously (his Charlie expression), “A female problem as in you got your Diva cup got stuck up there again or you want my help hitting on cute newbies?”

Flustered, she shot back, “Okay, yo that was once alright, and besides lady parts gross you out anyway so what do you care, AND for your information, she is not a cute newbie… she is a smoking hot brunette that doesn’t even go here and thinks all us witches and wizards are creeps. I am so not a creep, I’m awesome and I need your help convincing her of that.”

Jimmy opened his mouth to talk when Castiel apparently decided to enter the asinine conversation. “Why does she believe those who possess magical abilities are… creepy?” the angel wondered.

Charlie shrugged. “Oh you know… probably ‘cause there’s tons of twiddle finger creeps that screw it all to hell for the rest of us. But I mean, there’s loads of plain humans that do messed up bonkers stuff, the only difference is when we peeps do some batshit abracadabra, it’s like _loads_ worse. Like homicide versus using mutilation magic to add tiny unicorn tusks to rabbits.” Taking a needed breath, she continued, “Anyway, angel-dude, unless you have some kind of heavenly insight into wooing the ladies, I don’t really think you’ll be a big help.”

Again, Jimmy tried to interrupt, but Cas said, “I could be a very big help, in fact. Perhaps you could explain to her all of what you’ve just said to me (preferably in nicer terms) and ask her for a single chance to prove magics are not inherently evil. Should you wish, I could even take you both to whatever destination in the world you so desire for this one evening.”

Her surprised expression slowly became suspicious. “Why are you helping me?”

“Consider it my apology for criticizing something you enjoy.”

“Deal. So for real though—I convince her to go on one date with me, and you’ll fly us off to some random spot in the whole world?” she asked, her eyebrows raised in disbelief.

“For a couple of hours yes.”

“Woohoo!!!” she screamed, doing a little dance, her hair bouncing around her shoulders. When her excited jig was over she hurtled herself towards the bed, her arms wrapping around Jimmy. “Oh bestie, I love you for being irresponsible and summoning your angel twin from some heavenly realm.”

When she pulled away, he smiled meekly at her. “Uh, you’re welcome. Glad I could be of service. Anyway, go and get your date and in the meantime we’re going to finish my assignment— _Wait,”_ Jimmy turned to face Cas, “But if we finish working, won’t you have to leave?”

Cas smiled at him. “Only if I wish to.”

It was impossible not to smile back, but Jimmy chewed at his lips to kill the expression. For god's sakes why was he smiling at his own face? It was stupid. “Oh. Um, okay. That’s cool.”

“Unless you’d prefer I leave as soon as we’re done?”

Jimmy quickly shook his head. “No, no-no. You’re, um, you can stay. If you want.” Shut up James, shut up now.

It was in that moment he saw Charlie’s slow grin. “Well, well, well… _Dearest Bestie, we nee_ —”

Before she could say another word, he lept off the bed, grabbed her shoulders and steered her out the door, whispering, “Oh my god, what are you doing?!”

“I think I should be asking you that,” she countered.

Jimmy reacted with a huff and glared. They waved goodbye and he ducked back into the room, doing his best to ignore the flame in his cheeks.

“Um, sorry about her. Crazy redheads. Anyway… let’s keep working.”

And they did, worked for another hour and forty minutes. The assignment was completely finished, and he was relieved. It was done well, his presentation was roughly put together but everything else was written out and ready to be submitted.

There was only one problem left.

Cas had done his angelic maid service and cleaned the room of research debris. Sitting on the bed, same position as before, Jimmy watched the angel stretch his wings in the centre of the room. It was a spectacular show.

It brought out a reaction in him… reminding him of his problem.

“Uh, what do you want to do until Charlie gets back?”

Cas turned away from the window and met his eyes. “In the event that I don’t stick around, what would be one thing you’d wish for someone to experience from this realm?”

He almost laughed and said, ‘ _Sex?’_ but that seemed leading. And besides, he had no idea how good sex actually was. “I don’t know,” he shrugged. “How about we just watch a movie because my brain is done with thinking.”

“You’re going to suggest Harry Potter, aren’t you?” Cas guessed.

Actually he wasn’t, but hey, why not? “Sure, that works for me.”

The TV was a slim screen barely noticeable on the opposite wall from his bed, and he could control the commands with a few simple words. Technology had significantly advanced but screens were still preferable for watching media. Holograms existed now but the picture was never as clear. Pigments without punch, he thought.

As the movie started up, Jimmy killed the lights and shifted over towards the pillows at the top of his bed so Cas would have a place to sit. And with those wings, the angel certainly needed the room. Even when they were tucked back, they still got in the way. Not that Jimmy minded.

A few feathers had settled by his arm, silky and strangely warm. He was tempted to reach over his lap and drag his fingers across the spine of the closest one but he had no way of knowing how inappropriate that might be. It was bad enough he couldn’t stop staring. The longer he lingered, watching them shift ever so slightly, he began to notice the change in colour, a slow creep of deep purple was beginning to mix with the blue. It radiated from the apex between his shoulder blades.

Forcing his stare to shift back to the movie, Jimmy imagined all the different reasons why Cas’ wings might be turning purple.

Forty minutes later, his nagging curiosity hit a breaking point. His fingers twitched into action and before he realized what he was doing, Jimmy was reaching across with his right hand and stroking the few feathers that lay over his other arm. The moment his skin made contact, the lingering purple flashed to burgundy and then red.

His eyes shot up, finding matching blue staring back. “Did I hurt you?”

Exhaling slowly, Cas said, “No.”

“What does red mean?”

Castiel’s focus on him didn’t shift or abate, not even as he leaned closer. “Red expresses… a strong emotion.”

Entranced by the angel, and somewhat by the surrounding darkness, Jimmy glanced down and brushed his hand across the lower extent of Cas’ wing. The sweeping change in colours was mesmerizing, deep blue to purple, to magenta, and a trail of sharp red. “Are you angry?” he asked, not for a second thinking it was true.

In a brief move, Castiel shook his head.

Jimmy repeated the motion once more. On the next pass of his hand, Cas caught his wrist and garnered his attention.

“What are you feeling?” he demanded.

In one word, Cas responded, “Curious.”

“About?”

Gently, Cas pulled on his wrist, dragging him closer. “Human interaction… _and you._ ”

“Me…” echoed Jimmy, looking unsure. “No one is ever curious about me.”

“I am,” the angel stated. “You’re very unexpected, and I find myself wanting to… learn you.”

A blast of heat rose from the centre of his chest and swept down his limbs. Jimmy couldn’t explain the pull he felt from Cas, the way his slightly deeper voice caused shivers to race along his spine. Way back, in the far reaches of his mind, Jimmy knew how twisted and severely wrong this whole thing was. And yet, the only thing he thought of doing, was leaning forward the last few inches and pressing his lips to Cas’ mouth, wondering if it would be as warm as his wings.

He knew Cas had said something… and something strange, but his mind was fuzzy, thoughts indirect. Automatically, he nodded, not sure what he was saying yes to, or whether a question had even been asked.

With his free hand, Cas reached up towards Jimmy’s face and paused, meeting his eyes. “May I?”

This time, he didn’t even nod, he nervously licked his lips and that was apparently sufficient. In the next breath, Cas’ palm was resting lightly against his cheek, and the angel’s familiar (yet so foreign) features were easing closer.

Whatever Jimmy had been expecting; it wasn’t this.

Cas’ thick lips greeted his in a soft, warm touch.  Feather-light at first, then pressing against him, two hands guided his head a bit to the side. Jimmy felt Cas’ thumbs reach down and graze the corners of his mouth. By some intuition, Jimmy knew it was a silent instruction and he turned pliant, opening himself to a deeper kiss.

When Cas licked past his lips, it wasn’t like anything else. The angel’s hot, slick tongue dipped into his mouth, sweeping around as if he were tasting everything that he was. Distantly, Jimmy heard the flutter of wings, wished he was coherent enough to open his eyes, wondering what colour they’d be.

For several minutes, Castiel showered him with affection, all through a simple kiss. It was delicate, and yet passionate. It occurred to him in a flash that the angel had so obviously never kissed anyone before. It was why Jimmy felt exposed, as if he were a guinea pig, letting his scientist explore him.

Because that was exactly what Cas was doing: _Exploring_.

Maybe minutes later, maybe an hour, the mystifying angel pulled back, cheeks flushed the same as his wings and stared. “Mmm. I believe that was the single most enjoyable activity I have ever experienced.”

The sheer absurdity of all of it stole every possible response. In lieu of words or coherency, Jimmy swallowed thickly and blinked back.

“You seem… stunned,” Cas noted.

Jimmy huffed a laugh, flabbergasted by the entire experience. “You could say that,” he muttered.

“Was it enjoyable to you?” the angel wondered, staring inquisitively at him.

Rolling his eyes, Jimmy said, “Uh, _yeah_. I would definitely call that enjoyable.”

Castiel smiled wide, beaming with pride in such an innocent way Jimmy’s heart fluttered. Or perhaps the coronary gymnastics were a result of Cas was moving towards him again, intent very clear.

The second kiss was wilder than the last, fast and eager. He felt Cas’ hands shift from his cheeks down to his neck. Even as his brain was screaming about how weird this should be, his body was leaning back, letting Cas fall towards him in the hopes of feeling the angel’s strong body laid out over him.

They were halfway to horizontal, hands grasping and moans beginning to create serious noise in the room—when the door flung open with a bang.

“Hot damn!” yelled Charlie.

Cas’ incredible warmth disappeared, leaving him chilled. Jimmy opened his eyes to find himself leaning back on his elbows with Cas suddenly standing stiff as a statue in the middle of his room, wings deep red and spanning from wall-to-wall.

“I believe there is such a thing as knocking in this realm,” Castiel said in a biting tone.

Jimmy chuckled to himself. What other response could he even drum up at this point. “Yeah Charlie, try knocking next time.”

She threw her head back. “Well, _excuuuuse me_ , for assuming you wouldn’t be getting hot and heavy with your freaking angel twin. How terribly rational of me. Anyway—I have acquired myself a date—” she looked expectantly at Cas.

The angel, by all appearances, had settled. But Jimmy saw the faint linger of red in his feathers and couldn’t hide his smile, he had a feeling he knew what that beautiful crimson colour meant.

“Yes. Of course,” Cas replied. “Let’s go.” Moving towards the door, Castiel stopped and glanced back at him, a brief flash of longing passed through his gaze.

“I’ll be here,” Jimmy told him.

“I’ll be only a moment.”

Jimmy nodded, and let his back drop back to the mattress. He listened for the door closing and finally let his eyes slip shut.

It was a short fifteen minutes before he heard a whoosh disrupt the quiet of his room, and air ruffled his hair. He smiled but didn’t open his eyes. Jimmy felt Cas’ presence like a nearby wood stove, welcoming and hot.

The bed creaked as the angel climbed up. Displacement of air around him, and the telling dips of the mattress, informed Jimmy that Cas had settled above him.

Only then did he open his eyes, finding Cas’ curious stare focused on him. “I will need to retrieve your friend around midnight, but until then… I am yours.”

Staring into Cas’ depthless eyes, he wondered how naive it was for him to assume Cas would actually stay much longer than that. After tomorrow, his assignment would be officially submitted.

“Mine?” he repeated. “What about after that? What about tomorrow, and this weekend…” he trailed off when he felt the heat creep into his cheeks.

Not one readable expression came across Cas’ face. For a very long few seconds, all they did was stare. Jimmy couldn’t believe how badly he wanted the angel to stay. It was ludicrous. What would his doppelganger even do? Live in the dorm room? What were they? How could they even—What would people—It didn’t make—

“James,” Castiel spoke his real name in a thick voice. “There is no cause for worry. I am interested in this world, and in you. I have no immediate plans to go back to my realm. Whatever details we must figure out, it can be done another time.”

Jimmy gave a brief nod.

Castiel continued, “I cannot explain what draws me to you, but I see no reason to fight it.”

It was hard, but Jimmy needed to say it, “But it’s… weird, isn’t it? I mean we look the same. That’s kind of… messed up. Isn’t it?”

His expression softening, Castiel replied, “Perhaps to your eyes we appear the same. But I see so much more. If you would prefer I leave, I—”

“No!” Jimmy cut in. “No, I want you to stay. I do.” The thought of being in this room without a half-naked man sporting wings seemed like a terrible prospect.

“So I’ll stay,” Castiel surmised, now looking unsure.

“Yes.” Jimmy smiled and threw his arms around Cas’ neck. “You are definitely staying. But, um, you might consider trying to fit in. The whole half-naked wings thing—as much as I like it—might not go over very well with everyone else. I mean, not right now or anything. Now, you can totally stay this level of naked.”

Relieved, Castiel smiled wide. “Is it alright if I kiss you now? I haven't stopped thinking about how you taste.”

Not bothering to answer, Jimmy raised his upper half off the bed and stole a kiss, pulling Cas back down on top of him.

Jimmy’s life as a student at AA’s had always been less-than-appealing, spells usually nothing more than parlor tricks. But as he felt Cas smile against his mouth, and a hand caress his jaw, he decided that maybe life at AA’s wasn’t so bad afterall.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope everyone who has read this enjoyed my attempts at a rarepair. It's a bit outside my comfort zone, but I loved the challenge and had a lot of fun with it. Thoughts are highly welcome.


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